A truck navigates along 34th Street in New York City. (Alexander Shapovalov/Getty Images)
New York City has launched a one-year experiment offering 45 metered truck parking spaces in three outer borough industrial business zones (IBZs) to curb illegal parking and give truckers a safe area to rest.
“We understand the importance of truck deliveries in New York City and our goal is to make them as safe, seamless and environmentally friendly as possible,” NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said. “Too often, residential areas and working-class communities bear the burden of illegal overnight truck parking. This pilot will address this inequity by offering legal spaces for truck drivers to park in select industrial business zones.”
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The Overnight Truck Parking Pilot that began March 20 offers metered parking in three IBZs for truckers to park, with spaces to handle large tractor-trailers.
The parking areas are in the following IBZs:
- Brooklyn — Flatlands/Fairfield (Flatlands Avenue from Erskine Street to Fountain Avenue)
- The Bronx — Hunts Point (Ryawa Avenue from Manida Street to Halleck Street)
- Queens — Maspeth (56th Road from 43rd Street to 49th Street)
These areas have experienced ongoing illegal overnight parking. New York City has 21 IBZs, established two decades ago solely as manufacturing-zoned land.
Safer truck parking for safer streets!
We’re installing overnight truck parking in select industrial business zones to prevent illegal tractor trailer parking in residential areas.
⁰Drivers will now have designated areas for mandatory rest breaks.More: https://t.co/o9PTa1PU7s pic.twitter.com/a7JNfaBApK
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) March 20, 2025
“As the nation’s largest city and a global hub for commerce, New York City depends on the movement of goods to drive our economy forward, but we must also protect neighborhood livability and street safety,” noted Mayor Eric Adams.
The program could provide a solution for illegal overnight truck parking in New York City that has resulted in complaints from residents and law enforcement campaigns.
Adams
Adams called the program a mutually beneficial effort “that will add 45 spaces for tractor-trailers to communities long burdened by unregulated truck parking — supporting our vital trucking industry, reducing illegal overnight parking in our residential communities, and providing truck drivers with the rest they need in a safe and regulated environment. We will continue to build a city where safety, commerce and quality of life can all thrive together.”
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The addition of NYC truck parking spaces was lauded by Zach Miller, government affairs vice president at the Trucking Association of New York.
Miller
“Nationally, there are 11 trucks on the road for every one parking space nationally,” Miller noted. “In a dense urban environment like New York City, this shortage is far worse. The consequences of this shortage force truck drivers to either violate federal hours-of-service regulations that mandate rest breaks or park in unsafe or unauthorized locations. This is a dangerous choice and is unfair to both the driver and the residents and communities that are impacted. This pilot program represents a meaningful step in the right direction — ensuring that drivers have access to parking during their rest hours so that freight can continue to move safely and efficiently throughout the five boroughs while providing relief to neighborhoods that are impacted by overnight truck parking.”
According to an NYC DOT release, “Businesses can ensure compliance with parking regulations while providing drivers with safe and convenient parking options during their mandated rest periods. Truck operators may park for consecutive eight-hour periods, if they choose.”
Truckers can pay for parking with the ParkNYC app. Parking is available 24 hours a day in eight-hour increments at $10 for each 8-hour session Monday through Saturday. There is no payment for parking citywide on Sundays.
Traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. (flavijus/Getty Images)
“To facilitate seamless parking payments, businesses are encouraged to sign up for a ParkNYC Business Account, which will allow for all employee parking transactions to be managed centrally by the business,” the release said. “This account allows companies to manage all employee parking transactions through a single ParkNYC wallet, simplifying the payment process for fleet operations.”
Numerous city leaders spoke positively about the truck parking experiment.
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“This program takes a thoughtful approach to addressing the challenges of illegal overnight truck parking in our neighborhoods,” said state Sen. Roxanne Persaud (D). “This ensures that commercial operations can efficiently manage their fleets while minimizing disruptions to our local communities. This pilot is a crucial step in the broader efforts to modernize our city’s freight management, reduce congestion and enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers.”
NYC Councilmember Julie Won (D) said she looked forward to less congestion and lower safety risks with the added truck parking. “Deliveries constantly go in and out of the Maspeth IBZ, meaning increased truck traffic and double parking while drivers stop to make deliveries,” she added. “DOT’s Overnight Truck Parking Pilot will give truck drivers sanctioned spaces to park their trucks while resting, making the streets a safer place for pedestrians, bike riders and other drivers.”
